c) When it enters the heart, imagine that the petals of the lotus bud open out, one by one,bathing every thought, feeling, emotion and impulse in the light and so removing darknessthere. There is no space now for darkness to take refuge. It has to flee before the flame.

d) Imagine that the light becomes wider, bigger and brighter. Let it pervade the limbs; nowthese limbs can never more deal in dark activities. These have become instruments of lightand love.

e) Let the light reach up to the tongue and falsehood, slander and spite vanish from it. Let itrise up to the eyes and the ears and destroy all the dark desires therein. Let your head besurcharged with light and all the wicked thoughts flee therefrom.

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Jyoti

Meditation(continued)

f) Imagine that light in you more and more intensely. Let it shine all around you and let itspread from you in ever widening circles, taking in your loved ones, your kith and kin,your friends and companions, your enemies and rivals, strangers, all living beings, theentire world. Stay on in that thrill of witnessing light.

g) If you are adoring God in any form, now try tovisualise

that form in the all pervasivelight, for light is God and God is light.

h) Effortlessly repeat OM SAI RAM or your personal mantra. (2-3mins.)

i) Keep your eyes closed and meditate for a few minutes.

j) Endmeditation. Softlyand slowly.

OmAsato

MaSadgamaya

Lead me from untruth to truth

Tamaso

MaJyotirgamaya

Lead me from darkness to light

Mrutyor

MaAmrutamgamaya

Lead me from death to immorality

Om ShantiShanti

Shanti

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Jyoti

Meditation: Follow-up Questions

a) After going through this meditation, describe your state ofmind.

b) How did you feel before the meditation and how do you feelafter?

c) What other activities do you participate in that makes you feelmost energized?

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Introduction

1.Defineenergyin your own terms. What is the first thought thatcomes to your mind when you hear the term ‘energy’?

2.Thelast 3 newsletter topics in this COD series have been onFood,Money, andTime, all of which are more tangible thanthe topic of this current newsletter, energy.

•Why do you think Swami included energy as a part of the CODprogram?

•Can you think of anything else in addition to food, time, money andenergy that we could fit in this “COD bucket”?

•In your life, how much importance do you place on practicing COD-Energy compared to the other COD topics or spiritual disciplines?

•Sharean experience from your life where wastage of energy led toundesirable consequences. Likewise, share an experience whereconserving energy led to pleasant results.

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Introduction

Swami has said: “Conservationof energy is very important. Ourphysical, mental and spiritualenergies should never be wasted.You might ask me: “How are wewasting our energies?" Seeingbad things, hearing bad things,speaking evil, thinking evilthoughts, and doing evil deedsall waste your energy. Conserveyour energy in all these fiveareas, and make your life moremeaningful.”http://us.sathyasai.org/ssn/2010/SeptOct2010_Aug11b-1.pdf

3.

a)Why do you think Swamiconsiders these 5 areas potential‘energy wasters’?

b) What are ways to always:

i) see good?

ii) hear good?

iii) speak/talk good?

iv) think good?

v) do good?

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Concrete & Subtle Energy

Simple experiments to try:

Concrete:

Rub your hands together vigorouslyfor 10 seconds.

What do you notice?

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The friction caused by the hands being rubbed together takes the energy stored in ourmuscles and turns it into heat.

Just as we have the ability to convert one type of energy to another by using our physicalstrength and muscles, we have the ability to transform subtle aspects of energy using ourthoughts, mind and heart. Let us try this next simple exercise to understand.

Concrete & Subtle Energy

Simple experiments to try:

Subtle:

•Sitcomfortably. Take a few deepbreaths to relax your mind and body.

•Start by holding your index fingers at aclose distance so that the tips of thefingers are pointing at each other-

startwith less than 1 cm away.

•Observe what you are feeling betweenyour fingers.

•Now slowly move the fingers apart...beconscious of the feeling as you do this,

•Repeat this process with all the fingersat the same time. Observe what youfeel now.

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DiscussionQuestions–

Subtle Energy

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a) During this exercise, what did you feelbetween your fingers:

•when it was closest (without touching)?

•as you move the fingers apart?

•when repeating the process with all thefingers?

You should have felt a slight magnetic pull ora tingling feeling around the tips of yourfingers. This represents your aura or yourpersonal energy field.

b) What are factors that affect the differentaspects (for example, intensity) of ouraura/personal energy field?

You stay up all night working to completea project and end up sleeping throughyour alarm and waking up late the nextmorning. Your to-do list is endless, andyou have an important meeting to get to in45 minutes. Needless to say, there is trafficon the way, and you arrive flustered andunable to settle down, and you get a rudecomment from one of your supervisorsabout not paying attention during themeeting. Even after the meeting is over,your bad mood continues, and people lookscared when they approach you.

a) What factors typically lead us to be in thistype of situation?

b) How do you think your energy in thissituation is affecting others around you?

c) What are ways of improving your state ofbeing so that the energy within and aroundyou is more positive?

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Experiencing “Energy” in our Daily Lives

Subtle Energy:

Consider the following scenarios that a lot ofus face in our daily lives:

a)Beingin the presence of someone who is not takinga positive approach to their current situation-

he/sheis almost always in a bad mood/ constantlycomplaining/focusing on the negative.

b)Somebodybeing overly critical of us-

bringing ourself-esteem and positive energy down

c)Working/Goingto school in an environment wherethere is tension, personal conflicts, etc.

i) Why do you think we get influenced by theenergy around us? Is it really caused byexternal factors? Or could it be our own state ofmind, and our process of reflection, reaction,and resound?

ii) What are some things we can do to keep ourenergy balanced in these situations?

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Experiencing “Energy” in our Daily Lives

Subtle Energy:

You’ve waited all week to attend a specialYAbhajan

session/study circle/serviceproject, but somehow when you get there,you can’t seem to “connect” to Swami theway you hoped, but you don’t want to losethe opportunity to feel His presence.

What can you do to create the ‘divine’experience you desire?

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Experience Sharing:

Tuning into Divine Energy

Sharean experience where youfelt anextra

ounce of energyfrom Swami to get through anactivity even though you feltthat you had absolutely noenergy left in you.

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Quiz: How Energy Efficient Are YOU?

1.Inthe living room: What color should a room be painted to saveenergy?

A.LightYellow

B.Navy Blue

C.Itdoesn’t matter. The color of the room does not affect energyuse

2.In the kitchen: What temperature should your refrigerator be set at?

A.Between 23 and 28 degrees Fahrenheit (-5 to-2 degrees Celsius)

B.Between 35 and 36 degrees Fahrenheit (2 and 5 degrees Celsius)

C.Between 54 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit (12 and 15 degrees Celsius)

3.In the bedroom: What kind of light bulb is the most energy efficient?

A.Incandescent (Regular) lightbulb

B.Compactfluorescent light bulb

C.Fluorescenttube lights

Concrete Energy:

Source:EcoKids

Quiz: How Energy Efficient Are YOU?

4.In the winter, what temperature should you keep yourthermostat for central heating set at?

A.86 degreesFahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius)

B.77degrees Fahrenheit (25 degreesCelsius)

C.68degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius)

5.Inthecar: while waiting on someone, you should:

A.Turnthe car off

B.Keep the car running

C.Drive around the block

Concrete Energy:

Source:EcoKids

Answers:How Energy Efficient Are YOU?

1.Inthe living room: What color should a room be painted to saveenergy?

(A)White walls reflect 80% of the light in a room. Therefore it will take lessenergy to light up a room painted in a light bright color, like yellow. Dark wallsabsorb light.

2.In the kitchen: What temperature should your refrigerator be setat?

(B)Between 35 and 36 degrees Fahrenheit (2 and 5 degrees Celsius). Fahrenheitis the ideal temperature for your fridge. These temperatures are safe for storingfood. It the temperature is set any colder, energy is being wasted.

3.In the bedroom: What kind of light bulb is the most energyefficient?

(B)

Compactfluorescent light uses one-quarter of the energy that

aregular incandescent light uses and it will last up to 10 timeslonger

Concrete Energy:

Source:EcoKids

Answers:How Energy Efficient Are YOU?

4.Inthe winter, what temperature should you keep yourthermostat for central heating set at?

(C)20 degrees Celsius is the ideal temperature to set your thermostat duringwinter. For every degree above 20 C, you pay 5% more on your householdenergy bill. At night, you can turn your thermostat down by 1 to 3 degrees. Forevery 1 degree decrease, you will save 2% on your utility bill.

5.Inthe car: while waiting on someone, you should:

(A)

Turnthe car off while waiting for someone. Sitting in a car with

anidle engine for more than 10 seconds uses more gasoline than

justrestarting the car.

Concrete Energy:

Source:EcoKids

Case Scenario/Activity 1:

Theimage below is a breakdown of your water and sewage utilitybill. Your goal is to cut down your total costs by 15%.

Discussthree (3) ways you can trim your cost.

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Case Scenario/Activity 2:

Formany days you seem to be low inenergy. You start the day by wakingup feeling tired. You almost alwaysskip breakfast. During the day alsoyou appear to not have much energyto work or study. By the time youcome home you are physically andmentally drained.

Whatare some ways (besidescaffeine!) you can start the day on amore positive note and continue tostay energized during the day?

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Conclusion & Take-aways

a)Whatis one thing related toenergy you can take from thisstudy circle and implement in yourdaily life?

b)Ifthe energy field you radiateout to your environment wasrepresented by a color, whatcolor(s) would you want yourenergy field to be and why?

c) If applicable, come up with anaction plan for you to practiceCOD-energy and other COD topicsas a group